Thursday, December 29, 2011

Sears and Kmart just posted their closing list. To no surprise, many of these malls have or will soon be covered on Sky City. Here is a run down of Sears stores and Kmarts with links to ones in malls I covered:

It should be noted this list is preliminary with more closings likely. At least one on those list I predicted which was the closing of the store at Signal Hill Mall. I expect the store at Southlake Mall in Atlanta to probably join this list when they wrap this up (and this post will be modified to show that). It should be noted that no Kmarts in malls were on this list. However, Sears locations in malls also anchored by Kmart were included.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Hickory has well defined itself as the major retail center of the North Carolina foothills region, and Valley Hills Mall is the centerpiece of this. The most upscale shopping to be found is in and around the mall, which arrived with a bang in 1978 and has been going strong ever since. As Hickory's only active shopping mall, it left its former older competitor Catawba Mall in the dust over two decades ago. Today, it is a solid two-level mall with four anchors and plenty of business.

Valley Hills Mall is a curious mall in that it was apparently built on a narrow plot of land that required interesting design modifications. The mall first opened as an L-shaped mall (or a "V" depending on how you see it) anchored only by Belk Broome and Sears. Apparently Mr. Beery (of Belk Beery) built the store, but the ownership was transferred to the Broomes. It did not seem at the time the mall was built that the owners were interesting in killing off their older nearby competition, though both malls shared a Belk. However, it was pretty obvious by that time which mall had more to offer in size and architecture, and its name did not start with a C.

Looking towards JCPenney at center court. The first photo is of center court looking towards the Sears wing.

Traversing the Sears wing. Note the style of skylights along the Sears and Belk (original) wings.

Sears features the same old mall entrance other than for some reason being completely off-center.

Looking back along the Sears wing to center court.

Dull Dillard's features the dullest wing of the mall with a dull, boring skylight and bland design unlike the rest of the mall.

Valley Hills Mall grew into a dominant mall in the 1980's when JCPenney left its large two-level store at Catawba for a brand new store at Valley Hills in 1988. At the same time, Belk consolidated its operations into Valley Hills ending any chance that the two malls would be complimenting each other at all. At the time, no other mall in the region had Belk, Sears and JCPenney though the mall would have been more ideal with anchors like Ivey's or Thalhimer's, neither of which the city could apparently support at that time. Spainhour's might have also joined the mall, but at the time they seemed to be looking more into phasing out their department store business. It would still be another decade before the mall would attract a more upscale anchor tenant.

The above two photos show the Belk wing approaching the store itself.

At the end of the wing is one of the best Belk mall entrances I have ever seen!

Looking back along the Belk wing to center court.

Looking down from the upper level at center court is this very attractive, albeit small, fountain.

1999 would be the next and last major modification the mall would see. It was in that year that the mall added two new wings. One included a food court fronting a new main entrance to the mall on the north side between Belk and Sears. The second was the addition of a longer wing for a new Dillard's store giving the mall a Z-shape. Dillard's at the time was new to the market, so its arrival was likely exciting for mall patrons. The then-aging mall also received an interior renovation, updated entrances and a new logo. The improvements did not strip away all of the 70's features, but it made the mall seem less dated and sufficiently contemporary.

These guys clearly look bored and a bit irritated as the wife clearly wore the pants that day so that she could go to try on some. They were staring into space imagining more exciting ways they could spend their time such as watching football or doing something that involves a hammer or loud machinery.

Here is the mall map to explain what is hard to explain. It is an interesting layout.

The food court is reasonably attractive and includes a carousel typical of 90's malls.

Valley Hills Mall sign along the street. Definitely not the worst I've seen. The name sounds a bit like a trailer park, though. I like the name Catawba better.

What does remain vintage at the mall is quite striking. The skylight configuration through the older part of the mall is somewhat SouthPark inspired with its skylights along the sides instead of in the center. The skylights, however, are placed at a 45 degree angle with the roof sloping back down on the opposite side. Bigger, brighter skylights are found in center court. Fake plants give the mall a more lush feel. About the only thing that looks different is the Dillard's wing, which contains a less inspired, more conventional design. What is also nice in the mall is the small terraced fountain in the lower level of center court. This likely replaced a much grander fountain before, but it is still a nice feature that they did not have to install. The mall as a whole is bright and cheery compared to the dark and plain Catawba Mall. In all, it is a well-designed mall that is a step above the average small city mall.

JCPenney arrived in 1988 with a basic but eye-catching exterior shell.

A view of Belk from the parking deck entrance. The renovation wasn't great, but some elements remain. The parking deck here was built just for Belk.

If you look below you can see some of the original stonework that was retained from when the store first opened.

The last photo features the rear mall entrance between Belk and JCPenney. I did not include any photos of Dillard's or Sears because neither store retained any distinctive design elements. The Sears looked like the typical 90's remodel and Dillard's looked like every other stucco atrocity they've thrown up.

Hickory today pulls from a large, although largely rural market. Because of that, the mall will probably never attract more upscale stores or anchors, but for its market is still a far nicer mall than what cities of its size tend to have. Because of that, the mall is fully leased and not likely to be crushed by a large power center or "lifestyle center" project. In truth, it is even nice compared to other malls I have seen in the state, and its ownership by GGP makes it a first-tier mall. My only beef with the mall is that its anchors look bland and boring. Belk renovated away its stone-clad 70's elements, Sears has been upgraded to bleached-out blandness, Dillard's is the usual clone and only JCPenney really seems to stand out although still colorless. The main issue the mall faces in the future is potential failure of 2-3 of its anchors. Sears is on very shaky ground with JCPenney and Dillard's both known to be struggling as well. Management will have to be creative if an unraveling occurs due to that issue. Obviously, many other malls will have this problem but this is a very difficult challenge for malls in second tier markets with fewer stores to choose from. If such a shake-up does not occur, this is a pretty standard, reasonably attractive mall that will likely avoid the worst of the current mall insurrection wiping out so many malls every year.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Hickory is the largest city in that region as well as the only significant outpost between Asheville and Winston-Salem. While nearby cities such as Lenoir and Statesville have malls, the former is dead and the latter has less to offer than the average strip mall aside from its anchors. Hickory as a population center is significant with the city holding about 40,000 residents and the region holding over 300,000. Hickory is also the center of North Carolina's furniture manufacturing industry, and it was the first city in the state to commence furniture manufacturing. This is part of why Hickory has the region's dominant shopping mall, Valley Hills Mall. Before Valley Hills Mall, however, this title was held by tiny Catawba Mall.

Catawba Mall, today Catawba Furniture Mall, was the first shopping mall in the region as well as one of the oldest in Western North Carolina outside of Charlotte when it opened in 1968. For its compact size, it was effectively the only enclosed super-regional mall in that part of the state since Charlotte had yet to build a mall like Catawba and the nearest mall like it opened itself in High Point around the same time. Surprisingly, this mall was also built by Simon: obviously one of their first. Unfortunately, this potential was offset by the fact that Catawba was a plain, brutalist building that over time proved much too small for the city.

Center court walking toward west wing. This way went to Belk Broome, Spainhour's and Big Star. It looks so spooky from this angle. The mall is very dark outside of the court areas.

After turning left at the former Belk Broome entrance, I am walking toward the back entrance where Big Star used to be. Spainhour's would have been somewhere on the right here.

Belk Broome here would have been on the left and possibly straight ahead. It had only one outside entrance.

When Catawba Mall opened, it featured a large JCPenney as well as Rose's, Belk Broome and Spainhour's. Spainhour's was centered in Hickory, so it was a logical anchor since early malls always had at least one local or regional department store. A Big Star supermarket also anchored the southwest corner of the mall, possibly opening as Colonial, but it did not connect to the interior portion of the mall. The single-level center featured an L-shaped main hallway with one additional entrance wing connecting through center court. JCPenney was the largest anchor and the only anchor with two levels. Rose's extended straight back from center court also containing an outside entrance behind the mall, which is now bricked up. Center court features a rectangular room with high windows roughly halfway between the former JCPenney and the former Belk Broome. Spainhour's was situated on the west side behind Belk Broome (and attached). In all, it was a very tiny mall packed with anchors that to all appearances left room for no more than about 15-20 inline tenants aside from the anchors.

Here I'm further back from the last photo in the vicinity of where Spainhour's entrance once was.

Here, I'm back in center court with full view of the small fountain with the front entrance hall on the left and the east wing on the right heading to what was JCPenney. How much, if any, part of this fountain is original?

I am now looking down the former JCPenney wing just east of center court otherwise known as the world's longest furniture showroom (my bad joke).

This photo was captured precisely where the JCPenney mall entrance was. The former JCPenney has since been integrated into the "mall". What I'd give to see this seen with that funky old Penney's logo.

When Valley Hills Mall opened in 1978, Catawba Mall did not immediately die as a traditional shopping mall. While it was clear that Valley Hills was the superior mall, the mall curiously opened with only two anchors including Belk Broome, which duplicated stores at both malls, and Sears, which the older mall did not have. JCPenney did not initially relocate to the mall, and Spainhour's stayed put. Regardless, Belk Broome had a small one-level store at Catawba while its Valley Hills Mall store a mere 2 1/2 miles east was a spacious, elegant two-level store with a wider assortment of merchandise. Only because Valley Hills opened with skimpy anchor offerings was the game not already over for Catawba. In fact, the two malls completely complimented each other for a decade. If Catawba's owners had been proactive and enacted an immediate expansion through the back of the mall making it larger and more attractive, perhaps the ultimate outcome would have been very different.

The mall's main entrance along U.S. Hwy 70 looks a bit gaudy, but it appears it was always plain.

Belk Broome is now "In Your Home Furnishings".

Further inspection of Belk Broome reveals the display windows are still intact next to the entrance. Instead of looking at chalky mannequins shaped like bulimic chicks, you can imagine yourself looking at them while instead fawning over the couch in the window. At least you can sleep on the couch (after you buy it).

The northwest corner of Belk Broome reveals no outside entrance but a steady line of ribbed concrete protrusions extending along the back side as well.

Despite the complimentary nature of the two malls, Catawba proved to be very outmoded by the late 80's. By then, the mall was already struggling, and this became painfully obvious when in 1988 JCPenney built onto Valley Hills Mall, closing their Catawba Mall store once the new store was completed. Without a major anchor to pull in traffic, Belk Broome joined JCPenney simultaneously in the exodus finally recognizing that they only needed one store in the market as well. Rose's also joined the exodus moving west into a new strip mall just west of the US 321 expressway at U.S. 70 and 12th St with Big Star likely anchoring that new strip as well. With an exodus like that, the mall was in a tail spin. Nevertheless, Big Lots moved in to replace Rose's and Spainhour's continued to do good business. Even then, the Spainhour's location no longer appealed to the company. At the time, they were already in the process of phasing out their department stores. Spainhour's itself left the mall in 1991 leaving the mall dead. Big Lots would ultimately leave as well seeking more space than the Rose's had to offer.

At the very rear of the mall is this bricked up entrance, which was originally the back and outside entrance to Rose's, later Big Lots. Bricking up any entrance always looks spooky like a dark secret is hiding on the other side.

Here is more of the back side of the mall with Penney's on the right and the mall on the left. It is unknown what the solitary door connected to. Was this a drug store of some sort? The store would have been very deep.

The southwest entrance is the only rear access to the mall today. The grassy lot to the left was the former location of Big Star before the building was demolished a couple years ago.

This photo lacks detail of the entrance due to a couple annoying yokels haunting the door, but this brick portion was where Spainhour's was located. Spainhour's was the last anchor to leave the mall in 1991.

The death of one of the state's oldest malls was not lost on the city nor developers. Several developers came forward with proposals to resurrect the mall, but all fell through. The city also considered, but rejected the mall site for a civic center. Of all the proposals, the most unusual one of all came forward in the late 1990's: transforming the mall into a "furniture mall". A novel concept indeed, a "furniture mall" is essentially different furniture vendors setting up as tenants throughout one center. The concept was also tried on nearby Lenoir Mall, but failed. In the case of Catawba Mall, though, it was a total success. The mall reopened in 1998 as Catawba Furniture Mall, and it is still going strong today. As a city people travel to just for furniture, it was definitely the best way to reuse as well as rescue a mall that otherwise would have been doomed to a date with dump trucks.

Last but not least is JCPenney...the largest single anchor at the mall. This is the front entrance.

Here is a side view of JCPenney, which is now simply a mall entrance for the rest of the bizarre furniture bazaar.

More detail of the JCPenney side entrance.

Behind the mall, prior to the conversion to a furniture mall this very peculiar building was spotted on an aerial photo. Apparently this was a Carmike Cinema. It was divided into four screens and downgraded to a dollar theater before closing in the 1990's. It has since been torn down as part of a state road improvement project.

Here is a map of the mall showing its anchor line-up the way it was during its peak of success around 1977. It is still unclear what other tenants were in the mall, how they were positioned or how many. I also do not know if any other hallways existed.

The sad part about Catawba Mall is that its contemporaries have for the most part not been able to survive next to competition, demographic changes and even natural disasters. Charlottetown failed due to its small size and poor offerings. Tarrytown in Rocky Mount was ultimately demolished after being destroyed in a long, devastating flood. If Hickory itself had built any more malls, Catawba would have likely seen a similar fate. While it is sad to see the old anchors with their iconic signs re-dubbed as something less glamorous, at least it is still possible to see Catawba for what it was for the most part. As expensive, elaborate and expansive as malls are to build, even the small ones, it is worthwhile to try to save every one even if its use is not retail. Catawba was fortunate enough to find a second life as a retail center: even if the only "retail" being sold there is furniture.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Enclosed shopping malls were not an entirely new idea when they were introduced to the world in the 1950's. While the multiple-anchored all-inclusive pedestrian downtown surrounded by a sea of parking was new, the enclosed shopping center was definitely not. Before that, downtown shopping districts sometimes featured a smaller, classical version of the mall, which was known as an arcade. Not to be confused with the gaming place that teenagers frequented from the 70's to the 90's, these arcades were typically mixed use structures with at least three levels under one roof. In these, one or more levels were devoted to shopping with design details more ornate and elegant than their later, larger cousins. They usually fit nicely into a block of buildings downtown, and were typically not connected to any nearby department stores.

Arcades, likewise, should not be confused with the disastrous "downtown shopping malls" of the 70's, which featured such outrageous atrocities such as demolishing blocks of historic buildings for a huge bunker surrounded by ugly parking decks or parking lots. Unlike these ill-fated "urban renewal" schemes, arcades blended in with the downtown fabric with outer windows and architecture that appropriately complimented other buildings in the city. They were typically intricate and elegantly designed inside and out with the main recognizable feature comparable to modern malls being the central overhead skylight. They also typically covered a much smaller footprint being built up instead of out, typically carrying 3-4 stories. In addition, the shopping component tended to be much smaller, holding at most 20-30 shops. Grove Arcade was exceptionally large holding around 50: the size of most early 1960's shopping malls. Upper levels were also typically devoted to other uses than shopping such as offices and residences meaning they were mixed-use in contrast with modern malls. Also dissimilar from malls is that they were not designed to have "anchors". While they may have been near a downtown department store, they were never anchored by one. Usually, arcades had all entrances opening into the streets with their main crime being that they might have covered a large portion of a city block, but never resulting in the leveling of an entire downtown business district to make room for its quickly despised presence.

A couple exterior views of the arcade. Due to the parking difficulties, I was not able to take as many outside photos as I would have liked. The first photo is of the south hall looking back towards the entrance pictured above.

Today, most downtown arcades of the early 20th century suffered much the same fate as the department stores either reverting to other uses or being demolished for bigger projects because the land they sat on became too valuable for a building of their typically smaller size. In most larger cities, highrise buildings replaced the lowly arcade although small downtown malls often anchored, less successfully, many of these newer projects. Of the few that remained, most were ultimately converted to other uses with their original retail component long abandoned. The historic arcade was no match for modern-era progress beginning in the 1950's. Grove Arcade almost became a casualty itself: an almost forgotten artifact of Asheville's past until the past 15 years with plans to expand and convert the building to a government-owned high-rise very much in the works.

Here is another view of the south hall looking north. Note the winding staircase on the left. These have unfortunately been closed to the public.

One of the second level balconies crossing over at the center of the arcade. If only they had looked at this place and taken notes when they designed Biltmore Square Mall. It is no wonder that mall has failed.

The west hall features a stunning three-level vaulted ceiling with walls adorned with marble. Imagine any mall looking like this when you walked in.

Grove Arcade followed the typical pattern set forth with conversion to other uses. Opened in 1929, the arcade was a hit. Its builder stated it was one of the finest buildings ever constructed, and few would argue the sheer size, opulence and attention to detail that went into this building was a marvel of its time. It would continue to operate as the premier shopping destination in the city until WWII arrived. This is when the federal government seized the facility under the authority of the war effort literally evicting all the tenants within almost overnight. From there, the building would house various federal operations with the last involving weather forecasting. A movement to preserve and restore the building to its original use did not gain steam until the 1990's when the government began plans to expand the building to suit their needs.

Looking back toward the central elevators in the west hall.

This view is looking back down the north hall toward the elevators. The guy pictured proves this is not a bad place to kick back on a warm August morning.

When one of Asheville's most distinctive structures was threatened, citizens mobilized. A strong push was then made to get the government to sell the building back into private hands. In this time, the structure was placed on the historical register with steps beginning in 1995 to restore the building to its original appearance and use. This finally culminated in 2002 with the reopening of Grove Arcade back to what it was originally intended for. Since then, the bottom level was converted back to retail with upper levels being sold as housing units. Indeed, it has been a huge success. While the refurbished center has failed to attract any chain stores, the lower level is nearly fully leased with various local shops and cafes. With Asheville's tourist industry, the center is now pivotal in that district and attracts a whole new generation of crowds into its four glorious halls. Imagine if such an attitude could prevail when a classic 1960's shopping mall is threatened with demolition.

Here is a view of the east hall and entrance. Being designed in the same era as the Biltmore House, the attention to detail, elegance and gothic trappings are similar.

Detail of the winding staircase coupled with the tiny door below. It seems the popularity of winding staircases sadly died out by the 1980's due to their impracticality.

The success of Grove Arcade, though, suggests the need for further experimentation. Asheville, after all, is one of the few cities that could likely support a successful downtown shopping district like it once had. Currently, Asheville still lacks some chain stores many other cities have. The city also has three malls, but one is failing, and all three are landlocked by roads, buildings and steep terrain. While one of those does have room to expand, even it would still require a substantial updating and vertical design to utilize the space. This presents a unique opportunity as the city currently lacks a Macy's or upscale department store such as Nordstrom. The idea I have is to consider purchasing and demolishing the RBC bank building across the street from the arcade and expanding the existing parking deck across from both. In the RBC building, a 5-6 story structure would take the place of the current two-level structure housing a new downtown Macy's or other department store designed on the outside to look like the arcade. Doing this would spotlight the arcade, bringing more shoppers downtown and possibly helping the arcade to truly evolve into a downtown mall without repeating the mistakes of the 1970's. The potential is there to create a one-of-a-kind shopping destination not usually found outside of New York City or Chicago. In a time when society is turning cold on the effects of over 60 years of suburban sprawl, such an idea seems more realistic.

Another view of a winding staircase in the south hall.

Lastly, detail of the south entrance to the arcade. Rest assured, shoppers here were of the upper class and dressed in their finest back in the day. I tip my hat (if I actually wore one) to the successful preservation of a historic retail treasure.

Ideas aside, the interest in historic preservation has revived some surprising treasures. Before I saw this place, I did not even know that any arcades like this still existed: at least not as public shopping and gathering places. Grove Arcade itself had fallen out of public use for over 50 years, and today is one of only five arcades to still exist in North Carolina. Grove Arcade, along with the Biltmore Village retail district are beautiful works of art as well as fun shopping areas in one of the country's most beautiful cities. With that, it is not a wonder that the malls in the city are anemic. I hope that Grove Arcade continues to not only be a success, but also brings a new wave in experimentation in constructing new arcades with similar architectural detail to possibly bring upscale shopping back into the larger cities without wrecking them. Just as they were a good idea in the pre-mall era, they are again a great idea today in an increasingly post-mall era.